Facts
Geneva International Airport filed a request with the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) to reduce the minimum number of Sundays off from 26 to 20 for a portion of its ground personnel in the air navigation sector. Seco granted this exemption, but the Swiss Union of Public Services and an employee appealed this decision to the Federal Administrative Court, which annulled Seco's decision.
The Airport then filed a public law appeal to the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court upheld the appeal and confirmed Seco's decision of 25 February 2011 granting the exemption.
It first examined whether Article 28 of the Labour Act, which provides for minor derogations from legal requirements, was applicable to companies subject to the special provisions of Article 27 of the Labour Act, as is the case for the Airport. The Federal Supreme Court concluded that these companies could invoke Article 28 to obtain an exemption beyond the framework set by the special provisions.
Regarding the conditions for applying Article 28, the Federal Supreme Court considered that the consent of the workers was validly given. Although the application of Article 12(1) of Ordinance 2 on the Labour Act poses difficulties for the Airport, the Federal Supreme…